574 BUTTRESS TREES. 



leagues, with its shores of impenetrable forests, it was difficult 

 to resist an oppressive sense of loneliness. Though here and 

 there an Indian settlement or a Brazilian village appears, yet 

 the population is a mere handful in such a territory." 



Wonderful is the change in the appearance of the tropical 

 representatives of well-known families in the Old World. 



The india-rubber tree belongs to the milkweed family. 

 The euphorbiacea* assume the form of colossal trees, constitut- 

 ing a considerable part of its strange and luxuriant forest 

 growth. The giant of the Amazonian woods, whose majestic 

 Hat crown towers over all other trees, while its white trunk 

 stands out in striking relief through the surrounding mass of 

 green — the sumaumera — is allied to the mallows of the North. 

 tSome of the most characteristic trees of the river-shore belong 

 to these two families. 



BUTTRESS TREES. 

 One of the most striking characteristics of the forest vege- 

 tation is the way in which many of the trunks of the trees 

 are supported by buttresses. The huge sumaumera is espe- 

 cially remarkable ; but this disposition to throw out supports 

 is not confined to one tree. It occurs in many families. 

 These buttresses start at a distance of about ten feet from the 

 ground, separating greatly towards the base, where they are 

 often ten to twelve feet in depth. The lower part of the 

 trunk is thus divided into several open compartments, so large 

 that, if roofed over, they would form a hut with sufficient 

 space for two people to stand up or lie down in. Others, 

 however, rise to the height of twenty or thirty feet, and run 

 up in the form of ribs to forty or fifty feet. Other trees ap- 

 pear as if they were composed of a number of slender stalks 



